Sexagesima (4 February, 2018)

Not to brag

"For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.  "For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.  Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall make a name for the LORD, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off."  Isaiah 55:10-13

(To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.)  How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts!  My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the LORD; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.  Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O LORD of hosts, my King and my God.  Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise! Selah  Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.  As they go through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools.  They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion.  O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah  Behold our shield, O God; look on the face of your anointed!  For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.  For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.  O LORD of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you!  Psalm 84

For you gladly bear with fools, being wise yourselves!  For you bear it if someone makes slaves of you, or devours you, or takes advantage of you, or puts on airs, or strikes you in the face.  To my shame, I must say, we were too weak for that! But whatever anyone else dares to boast of--I am speaking as a fool--I also dare to boast of that.  Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I.  Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one--I am talking like a madman--with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death.  Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one.  Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.  And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.  Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?  If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.  The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying.  At Damascus, the governor under King Aretas was guarding the city of Damascus in order to seize me, but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his hands.  

I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord.  I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven--whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows.  And I know that this man was caught up into paradise--whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows-- and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter.  On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses-- though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth; but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me.  So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.  Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.  But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  2 Corinthians 11:19-12:9

So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.  Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.  For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.  And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.  Hebrews 4:9-13

And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to Him, He said in a parable, "A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it.  And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture.  And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it.  And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold." As He said these things, He called out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."  And when His disciples asked Him what this parable meant, He said, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that 'seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.'  Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.  The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.  And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away.  And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.  As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience."  Luke 8:4-15

One of the most well known of all Jesus's parables is the Parable of the Sower.  In a day and age when a single farmer on a green-colored tractor can plant multiple acres of crop in perfectly straight GPS guided rows, the idea of a sower is laughably quaint.

Who is the Sower?

Jesus doesn't specifically say.  But He does say that the seed is the Word of God.  Which could mean that since the Word is Jesus, as John said in his gospel, the Sower is the Father.  Or, since the Word is what brings faith, the Seed is either Christ, who was the Light of the World, or the Holy Spirit, who brings people to faith through hearing the Word.  Or, since the Word is the Scriptures, the sower are those whom Christ has sent to proclaim His Gospel to the whole world.  People like St. Paul.

Whatever the case, the Word is received by all who hear, but just hearing doesn't automatically mean the metaphoric harvest.  That doesn't mean the Word is neither effective nor efficacious in bringing people to faith.  But believers can't just go out and "toss seed" randomly and hope to get a bumper crop.

It reminds me of a video of a "drive by baptism," where someone tossed a bucket's worth of water on a jogger while saying the words of baptism.  That's not how it works.

In the parable, the sower scattered seed.  Where?  Primarily, he was aiming for the field, but some seed fell in other spots.  But the intention was to sow where the field had be prepared.  St. Paul describes this in 1 Corinthians 3:6 "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth."  Granted, that's after the seed is sown, but the metaphor is still in play.

That's why Christ used agricultural themes in many of his parables.  His audience would be familiar with them.  A farmer will not go out and sow if his field is not prepared.  For many years, and even today, that means plowing the field before seed is applied.  Today farmers will use pesticides and fertilizers before planting to give their crop the best chance.  Likewise, prep work is needed for the proclamation of the Gospel.

Now, who does the prep work, and what all entails prep work?  That depends.  Without a doubt the Holy Spirit is the one who makes hearts ready.  But if I walked up to a random atheist and said "Jesus died for you" I shouldn't expect to see him next week at church.

Which is the whole point of St. Paul saying he does not boast, at least not in himself, his efforts, or his record of successes.  Rather, he boasts, as should we, in the Cross.  Yes, there is work to do, and our efforts are well spent in preparation so that we be ready both in season and out.  But at the end of the day the power and efficacy of God's Word is upon Christ's shoulders.  Thank God.